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By the time your state is held out as an example in the Washington Post of how bad things are getting in the nation’s health care crisis, things must not be going well:

In North Carolina, more than any other state, the recession has triggered a burgeoning medical crisis. A steep rise in unemployment has fueled a commensurate increase in the number of people who do not have health insurance, including many middle-income families.

There’s plenty more of course in the story – people working hard, losing their jobs and insurance, waits quadrupling in community health clinics, the list goes on. Naturally, North Carolina’s elected representatives are moving to try and alleviate this worst-in-the-nation crisis – or at least talking about it. Nope. The major health debate so far in our General Assembly? Not innovative approaches to save health costs and improve quality. Not ways to help the community health centers, health departments, rural health clinics, and other safety net health care providers. No – it’s been about how much to raise premiums, co-pays and deductibles in the state health plan – and how much to reward health care special interests.